Pin opening device



June 17, 1952 HOBART 2,600,769

PIN OPENING DEVICE g Filed May 31, 1949 INVENTOR. /4'' Leo Haber! Q BY Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE PIN OPENING DEVICE Leo G. Hobart, Inglewood, Calif.

Application May 31, 1949, Serial No. 96,339

1 Claim.

This invention relates to devices for opening pins and particularly bobby pins, cotter pins, and other pins wherein one of the legs of the pin is longer than the other. The legs of the pin are very easily separated by merely passing the pin lightly along the serrated or recessed portions of the surface of the device. The operation is very simple and hair pins can quickly be opened with one hand while the other hand is engaged in holding the hair and/or comb. After some practice, an operator can use the device without even glancin at it as the surfaces thereof are sufficiently broad to enable the operator to locate it as a matter of habit. The device is neat in appearance and easily cleaned.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to present a new and novel pin opener that is simple, durable, dependable, convenient, inexpensive, compact, eificient, and pleasing and attractive in appearances and satisfactory for use wherever found applicable.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will appear from a careful perusal of the accompanying drawings, the subjoined detailed description, the preamble of these specifications, and the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of one form of the invention,

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view thereof,

Figure 2' is a partial sectional view taken substantially along the line 22' of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a modified form of the invention,

Figure 4 is a side elevational view thereof,

Figure 5 is a a front elevational view of still another form of the invention, and

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of that shown in Figure 5.

The first form of the invention shows a work ing head I which is supported by a wide bottomed clamping or clip means indicated at 2 which bottom is wide enough to support the working head upright when placed upon a flat surface of the invention, as well as the other forms thereof, may be made of any suitable material such as any of the well known plastics, metals etc. A plurality of tooth-like bars or projections 3 are arranged in corrugated form, as shown, ina recessed rectangular portion 4 and the side walls of these bars are preferably parallel so that the end of the longer leg of a bobby pin can be caught easily in the valleys between the bars regardless of the direction in which the bobby pin is glided along the face of the head, that is, the longer leg of the pin will be caught when it is glided upwards or downwards over the bars. A screw hole 5 is provided in the event the user prefers to hang the head on a wall or some other surface instead of employing the clip supporting means 2.

So that the bobby pin opener head I can be readily attached to the margins of mirrors, cabinet edges etc., a spring clip 2, in the handle form, is fixed to the head. This clip has a forward straight leg 6 which is sized and configurated to snugly and firmly fit a dovetail-like slot or recessed portion 8 of the head I. The rear leg of the clip has a straight portion 1 with its top edge 9 bent outwardly so as to provide a ready means to allow the clip to be easily slipped onto the edge of the thing to which it is to become attached. The bottom portions of the two legs are attached by the integral expanded cross band [0.

The second form of the invention has the head II which has its front face surface provided with the plurality of recesses [2 that are arranged in staggered formation so that the end of a pin cannot be slid along any portion of the face in any direction without becoming entrapped in one of the recesses. Integral with the bottom portion of the head there is a handle l3 which has the rounded end portion [4 which functions to prevent an operator's hand from slipping away from the handle. This particular form can also be employed for opening bobby pins, but it is especially suitable and useful for opening the legs of cotter pins while the pins are in their respective bores of rods, pintles and shafts of machinery, etc.

The third form of the invention consists of the head l5 which has the rectangular recessed portion H5 in which is fixed a wire mesh H, as shown. The edges of the wire mesh is preferably embedded in the material of the head so that there .will never be danger of the mesh getting loose from the head. The rear surface of the head 15 has fixed thereto the resilient vacuum cup l8 so that the head can easily and quickly attached to any smooth surface.

Obviously, the valleys between the bars in Fig. 1, the size of the recesses in Fig. 3, and the spacing of the wires in Fig. 5, are large enough to readily receive the end of the longer leg of the bobby pin or any other pin for which the heads are designed. It may be well, to also point out, that the bars 3, recesses l2 and wire mesh I! may be of any shape or configuration in order to accomplish the ends and objects of this invention.

It is, of course, understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of form, style, design, and construction of the whole or any part of the specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof in that such changes and modifications are considered as being within the scope of the following claim:

I claim:

In a pin opening device comprising a plate with a recessed front portion having its surface corrugated and a clamping means fixed to the rear side thereof, and the said clamping means constituting a handle for the device, and the clamping means constituting a spring clip having a wide bottom portion upon which the device can be stood upright.

LEO G. HOBART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 132,851 Cooper June 23, 1942 477,825 Russell June 28, 1892 1,671,811 Centanni May 29, 1928 2,126,051 Sievers Aug. 9, 1938 2,444,378 Sewol June 29, 1948 2,460,562 Worrell Feb. 1, 1949 2,490,647 Norman Dec. 6, 1949 

